“Hurry. The bell is going to ring soon.”
Arielle waited, the hallway clearing out with every passing minute. Her heart started beating faster as the first bell rang. When the second bell rang, her stomach dropped. She couldn’t wait much longer…
Jess ran down the hallway, giving her a thumbs-up.
Arielle returned the sign and ran to her class, making it just as the final bell rang. She put her hand over her chest to calm her racing heart as she slid into her desk.
As she pulled out her notebook, a smile stretched across her face. Tonight would be so much fun, hopefully. Even though Damien and Blake didn’t like each other much, it would be nice to spend a little time with Jess. She hadn’t been seeing her as much lately.
Maybe it would end up being the perfect night.
***
Jess and Arielle walked arm and arm into the bar. Arielle’s stomach churned. She didn’t know what to expect since they were heading to a bar, but according to Blake, kids could get into the sports area until nine at night. Since it was seven, they were okay.
As they strolled past the bar and into the back area, eyes followed their every move. They stopped in front of the pool table where two older guys were shooting. They picked their cue sticks up as Arielle sat on the red leather sofa, Jess plopping down beside her.
“What are two pretty ladies like yourselves doing in this bar? Especially two as young as you?” the guy with the big black beard asked.
“We aren’t here to talk with the likes of you,” Jess rebutted.
The guy put his hands up as his golden-haired friend chuckled beside him, elbowing him. “Man, she sure told you, Teddy.”
“Yeah, well,” black beard, aka Teddy, said. “Guess I know when to keep my mouth shut after all.”
Arielle pulled her phone out. It was past seven, three minutes past to be exact. “They’re late.”
Jess brushed her hand over Arielle’s arm. “Oh stop, Ari. Seriously! They will be here.”
The ting, ting of the door jingled and Arielle bent around the edge of the couch in time to see Blake walking toward her. He was all muscle and good hair, wearing a blue shirt and dark denim jeans with a black leather jacket over it, but his lips were pressed together with determination. When he saw Arielle, he smiled, making his eyes twinkle even in the dim bar lights, and her heart fluttered.
“Dreamy has arrived. Well, your dreamy…where’s mine?”
The bell over the door jingled again. Damien walked in. “You spoke too soon, Jess.”
“Guess I did.”
Arielle stood and greeted Blake with a hug. “Hey you.”
He leaned back and gazed down at her. “Hey yourself.”
“You got me here, so what’s the plan now?”
Blake grinned. “Need you ask? I mean, a couch and dim lights…”
She mock-slapped him in the arm as he laughed. “You’d better be kidding.”
“Oh, I am, but the look on your face was worth it.” He kissed her cheek. “I thought we’d play some pool since there are four of us. Might be fun.”
Arielle nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”
Arielle turned in time to see Jess lean forward, whispering something in Damien’s ear. He smiled at her, his face lightening as he smirked. They were kind of a cute couple. It seemed as if Damien and Jess were doing much better lately. It made Arielle realize she’d done the right thing by stepping back and letting them work their issues out. Instead of butting her nose in all the time.
Jess laughed and spun around, running to Arielle’s side. “Okay. So, Damien and I are going to go take a walk on the boardwalk.”
“You can’t call that a boardwalk, Jess. It’s a few boards nailed together that you can walk on.” Arielle frowned. “But we were going to play pool together. The point of a double date is to have two couples doing something together, not splitting up.”
“Whatever. So not the point! We need some alone time. You two have fun.” She winked and went back to Damien, grabbing him by the arm and all but pulling him out the door.
Arielle sulked as she joined Blake’s side. “Guess pool is out. They want to be alone. So much for spending time with my friend.”
Blake rubbed his hands up and down her arms and kissed her forehead. “Sorry. But we can still play pool and I bet we’ll have fun.” He tapped his chin, then turned in a circle until he faced her again. “Well, we could have but it looks like all the pool tables are taken, so how about we go for a walk of our own?”
Arielle shrugged. “Fine. Guess that’s okay.”
“Good thing.” Blake’s tone left no room for argument.
Arielle’s eyes opened wide. “Excuse me?”
He chuckled. “I’m kidding. Again.”
“You’re full of it tonight, aren’t you?”
“Maybe. But tell me you don’t like it and I’ll stop.”
Arielle pressed her lips together and walked a little faster, trying to keep up with Blake’s longer legs. He held her hand until they made it outside, then he wrapped his arm around her back.
This hadn’t turned out to be the perfect night Arielle had hoped it would be. She couldn’t believe Jess had gone off to spend time with Damien alone. Arielle had made these plans to get some time with her friend because she hadn’t seen much of her the past few weeks. She missed her.
She tugged her bubblegum pink shirt down since it had started to ride up. The last thing she needed was her stomach showing. Could this night get any worse?
Blake cleared his throat. “Ari. What’s wrong?”
“Everything. This whole night…it was supposed to be Damien and Jess hanging out with us.”
“So you don’t like being alone with me?”
She stopped in front of an old barber shop, putting her hands against his cheeks. “That’s not it. You know I like being alone with you, but I haven’t seen Jess a lot since we started dating so I wanted to make that up to her.”
“Maybe she is okay with it, even though you didn’t think she was. It might be my fault that Damien didn’t want to hang out, though.”
Arielle scrunched her forehead. “How so?”
Blake ran a hand through his hair. “We kind of got in to it. A couple times.”
Arielle licked her lips, which had turned so dry she couldn’t stand it. “Oh, well, I guess. If he doesn’t like you, that’s his loss. Guess I’ll have to spend a day without you here and there to spend more time with her.”
“Okay, I guess I can handle that. Maybe…”
She laughed and they started walking again, a comfortable silence wrapping around them. Blake held her hand and it didn’t take long for her palm to feel sweaty. She stopped herself from yanking her hand back and wiping it on her jeans at least two different times.
After a few minutes, Blake tugged on her hand when they came upon a bench just past all the shops lining the street. She sat beside him and he sighed. “So, I need to talk to you about something.”
“Okay.” Arielle almost stopped breathing, but somehow remembered to take a breath at the last minute. It was a close one though. She thought she might choke.
“So, in a few weeks it will be Thanksgiving. I have to go home for the holiday. Do you think you could come with me? I would love for you to meet my family.”
Arielle smiled. “I wish I could. There’s no way my dad would let me though. Or my mom. They are so overprotective. They haven’t known you long enough to let me go to South Carolina with you. No way.”
Blake shrugged. “It isn’t far.”
Arielle laughed. “It isn’t, but you are a boy and my dad barely lets me go on dates with you.”
“I’m not any boy.” Blake puffed his chest out. “I am your boyfriend.”
She smiled, loving the sound of that word floating from his lips. “You are. And have I told you how happy I am about that?”
His eyes glittered back at her. “I could say the same thing.” She didn’t stop him when he pressed his lips against h
ers.
She couldn’t catch her breath when she pulled away, but after a few seconds she could breathe like a normal person again. “Better walk while we can. It’s almost dark.” She stood and started to cross the street. Before she could, Blake came up behind her and lifted her, spinning her around.
“I’m so glad I met you, Ari,” he said.
She slapped at his arms as her heartbeat sped up because she was way too heavy for him to pick up. “Put me down. Now!”
“I don’t think I want to. You are amazing.”
“I hope you’re still saying that in a few weeks.” She smacked his hands. “Now put me down, he-man.”
He set her back on her own two feet, no strain showing on his face. “Oh, I will be. Don’t you worry.”
***
They met up with Jess and Damien in front of the ice cream shop. Jess was licking a strawberry cone. Blake pulled on the sleeve of her shirt. “Want some ice cream?”
Arielle shrugged. She didn’t have the confidence Jess had, and eating in front of a boy made her nervous. Although, she did want a cone.
“Okay, what flavor?” Blake asked.
“Vanilla.”
“Bo-oring,” he drawled.
Arielle dropped her mouth open and put her hands on her hips. “Vanilla is so not boring. There are more different vanilla flavors than…like…any other flavor.”
Blake chuckled. “Oh yeah?”
She stuck her chin in the air. “Yup.”
“Okay. Remind me never to argue with you.” He put his hands up in surrender, bowing down to her. “Arielle is always right.”
She reached over and tickled his sides. “Something you should always remember.”
As he went to get her an ice cream, Jess joined her side. “Are you guys having fun? I’m sorry I ditched you two, but Damien wanted to be alone. You understand, right?”
Arielle smiled, wrapping her arm around her friend. “Of course I do. I’m glad you guys are doing better after your last party.”
“He’s perfect. But not as perfect as you and Mr. Dreamy there. Are you two perfect together or what?”
Arielle shrugged. Then she squealed with excitement. “We are, right?”
Jess nodded and pretty soon the two of them were jumping up and down together, shrieking like a bunch of cheerleaders.
Blake handed her the vanilla cone. “What did I miss?”
Jess grinned with mischief. “Don’t you wish you knew?” Then she walked away, joining Damien at the wooden picnic table.
“I’m guessing Damien is going to be taking your friend home,” he said.
Arielle nodded. “I’m guessing you’re right. Which means you’ll be giving me a ride home.”
“Oh, does it now?”
She nodded again.
His phone rang then. He pulled it from his jacket. “Hello.” A pause. “Oh. Crap. I didn’t know that was tonight.” Another pause. “Sure. Arielle’s with me, so you’ll get to meet her. We’ll be there in about five minutes.”
He smiled. “So, I wanted to do dinner and a movie tonight, but my aunt just called and the Christmas Trail decorating is tonight. I forgot all about it. You don’t mind doing that, do you?”
Arielle shook her head. “Not one bit. In fact, I think it might be fun.” She held up a finger. “Let me just tell Jess.”
“I like how chill you are when plans change.”
Arielle chuckled. “That’s me, so chill I could freeze an icicle.” She ran over to Jess and told her about the change of plans. Jess had already planned to leave with Damien, as Arielle had thought, so it worked out perfectly.
Blake held her hand all the way back to the car, not letting it go until he had to get in. It took six minutes before they arrived at the house. Arielle’s stomach fluttered as she got out of the car and followed behind Blake toward the front door. He rang the doorbell then glanced back at her. “Ready for this?”
“Sure,” she replied, her stomach fluttering. She knew his aunts and his grandma would be there, and she’d never met either of them before, so she found herself hesitating behind him, scared to go inside even when the door opened.
When the door opened, Blake showed not even an ounce of nerves. He went right in, so Arielle had to follow. What would it look like if she stood on the steps but never went inside?
The warmth of the fireplace hit her in the face as she walked into what looked like a living room. A TV hung from the wall, a big one, and a gray sectional took up the middle of the room, but a lot of room still remained. Arielle had never seen such a large living room. When her eyes landed on the Christmas tree, she couldn’t believe what she saw. The tree actually made the room look small.
Blake took her hand and pulled her to his side, where three older women stood with smiles on their faces. Two were short with dark gray hair at their shoulders. They looked like sisters, with the same tiny nose and thin lips. The other had curly silver hair, cut short but fashionable. She was taller than the other two, with fuller lips and big blue eyes.
“Arielle, this is Aunt Mo, Aunt Bev, and Grandma.” The shorter ones were his aunts and Grandma was the taller of the three.
Arielle took her hand back as she crossed her arms over her stomach, then uncrossed them and kept them at her sides until finally she settled on pulling her hands up and picking at her nails. “It’s nice to meet you all.”
Aunt Mo grinned. “You too, even though we feel like we know everything about you. You are all this boy talks about.”
Blake’s cheeks turned the color of strawberries ripe in the field. “Aunt Mo. Come on…”
Aunt Bev laughed. “Well, it’s the truth. You wouldn’t want us to lie to your girlfriend, would you?”
Grandma took Arielle’s hand in hers, covering it with her other hand. “Don’t mind the aunts, dear. They have no manners. It’s nice to finally put a face to the name.”
“I’ve heard so much about you too. I’m glad we could come and help.”
“And help you will.” Aunt Mo pointed at the tree. “We have to decorate the tree tonight, and this room. Then we will come back to do the rest of the house and the outside.”
With that, they got to work. The theme of the house was Santa’s workshop, so she found all the tree decorations with Santa and elves and set them aside. She found some Rudolf decorations too. First, they strung the lights on the tree. Blake stood on one side and Arielle on the other so they could wrap the strand around the whole tree, but it got difficult when they hit the bottom since it widened so much there. At one point, Arielle almost fell into the tree, but luckily Blake steadied her before she took the dive.
Laughter carried through the whole house. There was something about decorating for Christmas that lightened Arielle’s heart. The holidays were such a fun time full of family and friends. Her favorite time of the year.
After the lights, they wrapped candy red garland around the tree. Once they finished, the decorations went up. Placement was key, and by the end, as Arielle stood back and examined their work, she realized it looked perfect.
“This looks awesome.” Arielle rolled her sleeves up. “I can’t believe we did this.”
Blake stepped to her side and wrapped an arm around her. “We make a great team.”
She felt the blush creep into her cheeks as Blake touched his lips to hers. When she looked up, both aunts and his grandma were peeking around the tree, grinning. So much for privacy.
Not caring one bit, he took both of Arielle’s hands in his and brought them to his lips. “I really like you. You know that? I don’t want this thing between us to fizzle out before it even has the chance to begin.”
Arielle’s insides were like cheese on a stove as she melted. Blake sure knew how to say the right things. “Me either. I haven’t been this happy in a long time.”
“Same for me. Now let’s finish decorating.”
Arielle followed Blake and got to work again. The whole time, her thoughts swarmed inside her head. Never had she m
et a guy like him. They must breed them different down in South Carolina because these Ohio boys sucked…no manners and complete doucherockets. But Blake, he had her swooning, and she saw no signs of stopping in the near future.
He was almost too perfect, which reminded her the other shoe hadn’t dropped yet. Hopefully, it wouldn’t crush her when it did.
Chapter 8
That Darn Shoe
It was almost time for Thanksgiving and Arielle was excited, even though she wouldn’t see Blake for a few days since they didn’t have to go to school. It was a win for her, even with the loss.
Blake took her home from school Tuesday. In the car, it was so quiet the sound of a feather swaying through the air would have been loud. She couldn’t take it anymore.
Arielle touched his arm. “What’s wrong?”
He shrugged. “Nothing.” He reached over and turned the radio up. “November Rain” by Guns N’ Roses blared, making Arielle chuckle since November had come and still it rained. Her mind went back to the last time she’d heard this song with Blake and she smiled.
As soon as he heard the song, he hit the power button, turning the radio off.
Arielle took a deep breath. “I can tell something is bothering you. You might as well tell me.”
Blake pulled into her driveway and parked the car. He twisted in his seat so he could face her. “Listen. I can’t…not right now. I’ll talk to you about it later, okay?”
Arielle’s heartbeat quickened. She didn’t know what had happened. Her fingers shook with nerves at the thought of what this “talk” would be about. She unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the car door. “Sure.” Before she got out, she leaned over to Blake to give him a kiss, but he turned his head at the last minute so she hit his cheek. “Okay, then. Bye.” She climbed out and shut the door before he had a chance to say a word, not that it looked like he would.
Arielle wrapped her arms around herself as she walked into the house. She didn’t know how to get him to talk, but hopefully she’d be able to when she saw him later. Something serious had to be going on. Even though everything had been great between them, the what-ifs invading her mind might swallow her whole, so she went inside and ran up the stairs without saying anything to her dad. She closed her door, locking out the world, then turned her stereo on to a random station, sat on her bed, and wrote in her journal.
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